From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Haredi legislative boycott continues for second day, putting coalition’s policy blitz at risk
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
All bills are removed from the Knesset plenum agenda for the second day in a row, as ultra-Orthodox lawmakers continue their boycott of coalition legislation to protest the lack of advancement of the so-called Daycare Law.
The continuation of the boycott appears to spell at least a temporary halt to the coalition’s legislative blitz, coming as lawmakers attempt to pass laws splitting the role of the attorney general, establishing a political commission of inquiry into October 7, and giving the government significant control over the media before the upcoming pre-election Knesset recess.
Speaking to The Times of Israel this afternoon, a senior Haredi political source said that the Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox parties do not believe that the legislation aimed at restoring government daycare subsidies to the children of Haredi draft evaders will return to the parliamentary agenda because “there’s no majority” in favor. Therefore, the source said, the boycott would continue.
The boycott began yesterday afternoon with the removal of all legislation from the Knesset agenda, and the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties issuing a joint statement declaring that they had “informed the coalition chairman that due to the failure to put the Daycare Law on the agenda, we will not vote today in favor of coalition legislation in the Knesset plenum.”
After announcing that the boycott would continue for a second day, the Degel HaTorah faction of United Torah Judaism says in a statement that: “There was a commitment by the prime minister and the Likud to bring the Daycare Law for approval. We firmly insist upon this and will not accept any delay or retreat from it.”
The second faction that makes up the party, Agudat Yisrael, confirms that “the entire faction stands united with Degel HaTorah” in its demand that Netanyahu allow the Daycare Law to pass.
“Failure to pass the law would mean an admission by the prime minister that he is ultimately interested in dissolving the Knesset and going to elections,” it adds.
There is no immediate comment from Shas.
According to Hebrew-language reports, the coalition declined to bring the Daycare Law to the plenum yesterday, despite gaining approval from the Knesset Finance Committee, due to opposition from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party.
Ahead of today’s plenum session, the Knesset Finance Committee canceled a debate on changes to the 2026 budget after ultra-Orthodox lawmakers threatened to vote against any budget transfers unless the Daycare Law was advanced.
The Labor Ministry was ordered by the Attorney General’s Office to cut daycare subsidies for the children of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers in August 2024, following a High Court ruling stating that ultra-Orthodox men were not exempt from mandatory military service.
The new legislation is an attempt to circumvent that decision and restore the subsidies.
The Times of Israel Community.